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In this month’s @antigravitymag , we expose how a new State of Louisiana approved marker commemorating ‘Sicilian Jazz’ includes a QR code that links to white supremacist propaganda. A thread: http://antigravitymagazine.com/column/how-a-historic-marker-and-attached-qr-code-create-a-literal-link-to-white-supremacy-in-the-french-quarter/
The historic marker focuses on Nick LaRocca who, while widely credited with recording the first Jazz record, was also a notorious racist and falsely claimed to be the inventor of Jazz. Read more about LaRocca, and how problematic he was, below. https://slate.com/culture/2017/02/nick-larocca-and-the-first-jazz-record-at-100.html
The marker was sponsored by Charles Marsala, who is one of New Orleans most prominent and vocal Confederate monument defenders as well as the President of the Italian American Federation of the Southeast and a member of the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee.
Text at the bottom of the marker says to scan a QR code “for a tour of Little Palermo” or visit http://www.awe.news for more info. AWE is an abbreviation for “Awesome Wildlife Effort”, one of Marsala’s other initiatives. They put up an abstract statue of an elephant in Kenner
The QR code doesn’t actually lead to a tour of Little Palermo, but instead to a download link for the “New Orleans Insider Tours” app that includes a series of self-guided tours created by Marsala himself.
The New Orleans Insider Tour social media pages were originally entitled SaveNOLAHeritage, which was a campaign created by Marsala to support the Confederate monuments. It has since been repurposed into a tourism campaign.
At various stops, Marsala links to his self-produced videos that include Lost Cause propaganda. At the former site of the Jefferson Davis monument he includes a video that claims Jefferson Davis was “empowering slaves with education and job training”.
One stop on the tour is simply entitled ‘2017 Marx’s Day Riot’ and includes QAnon level stories about ‘antifa’, including a mention of the long standing anti-semitic conspiracy theory that the Rothschild family funded Karl Marx and that Jews are behind current civil unrest.
Even the non-racist sections of the app often have misspellings, incorrect information, or are clearly cut and pasted from Wikipedia entries. Enjoy live music on 'Frenchman Street’ and your dinner at 'Jaquamo'. The date of Nick LaRocca’s first recording is wrong too.
Scrolling down the YouTube pages linked through the app, you find other videos Marsala has posted. Here’s one complaining that the New Orleans airport was renamed after Louis Armstrong instead of Nick LaRocca or Louis Prima.
Marsala tries to discredit a marker created by noted Black scholars and culture bearers Freddi Williams Evans and Luther Gray that tells the story of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Marsala points out it is not approved by the State of Louisiana like his is
On the New Orleans Insider Tours Youtube page, Marsala includes an interview with white supremacist radio host Kenn Daily, where he again references the anti-semitic conspiracy theory about the Rothschilds and is asked repeatedly about ‘white genocide'
Speaking of white supremacists, Marsala also associates with Pennsylvania based Neo-Nazi Sean Donahue, who ran for Congress on a platform to bring back racial segregation. Donahue even reviewed Marsala’s self-published book on Amazon. Five stars!
This isn’t just about Marsala, it’s about a process that sanctioned a historical marker that includes blatant self-promotion—which in this case also spreads white supremacist propaganda. He was given special treatment or someone dropped the ball, but clearly the process is broken
According to guidelines each proposed marker will be reviewed by the admin of the marker program with the Louisiana Office of Tourism & verified & edited by the LSU Dept of History & will be approved by the Louisiana Tourism Development Commission (LTDC). https://www.crt.state.la.us/Assets/Tourism/industry-partners/LAHistoricalMarkerGuidelines&Application2020_ext.pdf
Sponsors must be “authentic historical organizations” & markers must be uniform in appearance. The process is overseen by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, who also appoints the entire LTDC. Once approved, the sponsor must pay for the marker and hold a dedication ceremony.
Already, the inclusion of the QR code seems to violate these regulations, and it is unclear how the "Marsala Cultural Fund” or “Awesome Wildlife Effort” qualify as authentic historical organizations. We also don’t know who at the LSU history department gave the ok.
We do know, however, that Marsala and Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser have a good relationship, and that Marsala serves on the American Italian Cultural Center Board with Steve Scalise. Nungesser has said he appreciates all Marsala does for tourism.
Recently, Marsala has been approved to install five more historic markers, one of which is about the Battle of New Orleans, and another that clearly contains a “white slavery” narrative, another common white supremacist talking point.
This obviously shows an immediate need for reform in the historic marker approval process—at even a most basic level, the inclusion of a QR code promoting a private business should be a clear violation.
But more importantly, it raises questions about who is able to tell the “official” story of Louisiana, its people, and its culture. If you, like us, want to do something to address this, the marker is located in @RoyceDuplessis's state legislative district.
The full list of the Louisiana Tourism Development Coalition is below, including contact information for the lead staff person. https://legis.la.gov/legis/BoardMembers.aspx?boardId=178
The people of the City of New Orleans are actively working to take down symbols and statues that promote the myth of white supremacy, and we shouldn’t accept new ones being put up in their place, no matter what form they take or who approves them.
